“Did you even ask her to stay?” Scout asked.
“I didn’t have to. I knew how she felt.”
“Really?” Scout said, disapproval lacing his words. “You could read her mind like that? You knew her so well after three months that you didn’t even have to talk to her to find out what she’d like to do with her own future?”
“Well,” said Bran, “from what Ava’s told me, that’s what Kit’s parents have been doing her whole life—reading her mind for her, telling her how her future should play out. It must be a Kit thing—everyone knows what she wants without even asking her.”
Hunter stared at his brothers as a deep and painful sense of foreboding crept over him.
“Oh, shit.”
Both brothers nodded in unison.
“I did, didn’t I?”
Both brothers nodded in unison again.
“I did the exact same thing her parents have been doing. I didn’t once ask her what she wanted. I didn’t tell her what I feel. I just let her do her duty and walk out that door.”
“You’re an idiot,” Scout murmured into his coffee cup.
“Fuck, I’m an idiot,” Hunter parodied as he put his head in his hands.
“Maybe it’s time to figure out how to fix it?” Bran asked.
Hunter closed his eyes and moaned in despair. How the hell would he ever fix this? And what if it was already too late?
* * *
“There’s a bichon with a skin rash waiting in exam one, and the senior tabby who needs his nails clipped is in the waiting room,” the portly receptionist said as she poked her head into Kit’s office—which was actually Kit’s dad’s office.
She sighed as she closed the computer tab that showed Equine Journal’s latest article on treating tendonitis in race horses.
“Okay, Ramona, I’ll be right there,” she said, pasting on a smile.
The woman stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. Ramona had been with Kit’s dad’s office for as long as Kit could remember. All those afternoons Kit had spent waiting for her dad to finish up work, Ramona had been there—with lollipops and word searches, a kind ear to listen while Kit told about her day at school. Now Kit was supposed to act like Ramona’s boss, and it was…disconcerting at best.
“Can I just talk atcha’ for a sec, hon?” Ramona asked, wringing her hands in front of her generous waist.
“Of course.” Kit sat back in her dad’s chair and gestured to the seats facing his desk. “What’s going on?”
Ramona sat gingerly and gave Kit a warm smile. “I still remember the first time I ever saw you. You were about four, and your mama hadn’t been diagnosed yet, but she was feeling poorly so your daddy brought you into work with him that day. You had those little pigtails with the puffy ball rubber bands on them, and a stuffed rhino you carried around.”
“Pee Wee,” Kit said wistfully. “I loved Pee Wee.”
“Even then you were drawn to the less common animals.”
Kit looked at Ramona, who simply gazed back at her.
“I love all animals.”
“You do,” Ramona agreed. “But that doesn’t mean you want to take care of all of them.”
Kit didn’t know what to say. Luckily, like most older family members gearing up for a lecture, Ramona kept talking.
“I’ve known you almost your whole life, and I know more about the troubles your family has been through than most people ever will.”
Kit blinked as tears stung behind her eyes. She didn’t get maudlin about her mother’s health often, but lately she’d been on the verge of tears or fresh out of patience constantly.
“Your daddy’s a good man, Kit. But he’s not perfect. This plan of his, to have you take over the business and let him go home to care for your mom? It isn’t fair to you.”
“I’ve always wanted to be a vet, Ramona, you know that. And I’m so fortunate that Daddy has this successful practice for me to take over. Most vets starting out have to spend years building a practice to this point.”
Ramona held up a hand to stop Kit. “You have always wanted to be a vet, but not this kind of vet. I know that. You know that. And your daddy knows it, but he doesn’t want to admit it.”
Kit’s gut clenched in distress, and she shook her head—as if she could shake off the truth of Ramona’s words.
“Kit, hon, you’re a good daughter, one of the best I’ve ever seen. But you can’t let being a good daughter keep you from making the choices you want for your life. Someday, God bless them both, your parents will be gone—no matter what you choose or do. Being a vet is a big job, and it’s something you’ve studied for your whole life. You’re not going to be happy if you don’t do it the way you want.”
“What if this is the way I want?” Kit’s tone was mulish.
Ramona smiled sympathetically. “Is that why you look like you’re ready to bolt every time the front door opens? Or why you snapped at old Mrs. Williams the other day when she wanted you to help choose a new rhinestone collar for her Siamese?”
“I mean, sure, it’s been stressful taking on an entire practice as a brand-new vet. I’m sorry if it’s made me more grumpy than usual, but I think that’s understandable, don’t you?”
“Hon,” Ramona said as she stood. “What were you reading so intently when I walked in here?”
Kit cleared her throat before muttering, “Equine Journal.”
“I rest my case. And if you have any sense at all, you’ll present your case to your daddy soon so he can either sell the place off or hire someone to take over. He deserves his retirement with your mama, but it doesn’t have to be at the sacrifice of your happiness. You’re not happy here, Kit. You never will be.”
And with that, Ramona walked out the door, leaving Kit with more of those tears she couldn’t seem to get rid of.
17
It was a mutiny.
“What do you mean, you’re on strike?” Hunter bellowed as he stared at his entire staff—two part-time vet techs, the receptionist, the evening office cleaner, and the bookkeeper.
“You heard us,” the receptionist retorted with her nose in the air. “Until you get Dr. Cowie back, we’re not working.”
His best vet tech looked at him sympathetically. “You were happy with her here. We can’t take the grumpiness, Dr. Beckett. You’ve been in a bad mood for weeks now, and no one wants to be with you—not even the animals.”
“You think we didn’t notice all those kissy-kissy looks y’all were passing back and forth—”
Something inside of Hunter died in humiliation. “Kissy-kissy looks?”
The entire staff nodded.
“Some of us are old, Doc, none of us are blind,” Mr. Whitley, the office cleaner said.
“So,” the receptionist continued. “You have two choices. Get Dr. Cowie to come back and make you happy…or get a new staff.”
And with that, the entire group walked out.
Hunter sat down at his desk with a thump. What the ever-loving hell? He rubbed a hand over his scruffy chin. They’d known? The entire time? Dr. Marshall had hoped Hunter and Kit would break the rules. His own staff had known they were breaking the rules. Hunter felt as though his entire world had been upended. What ever happened to behaving with integrity? Doing the right thing? Following the standards of the profession?
He sighed. As if he’d done any of that himself. He sure couldn’t expect everyone else to behave any differently. And really, what the hell did any of that matter, when the end result was the same? He was in love with Kit. And he’d have been in love with her, no matter where they’d met or whether they’d ever pursued a relationship or not. He realized that now. He’d fallen in love with her that moment she’d looked at him across the auction floor and said, “I bid five hundred dollars.” Because that was the moment he’d known everything about her he needed to. She was the kind of woman who was willing to spend her own money to keep a man she barely knew from awkwardness and humiliation. She was the kind of woman
who’d looked him in the eyes and understood what he was feeling. She was beautiful, and generous, and she loved her work. That was what it all boiled down to, that, and he missed her like he’d miss his own breath.
It was time. Even if his damn staff never came back, it was time.
He opened the desk drawer and pulled out his cell phone, swiping the screen, then hitting speed dial number three.
“Ava?” he said when the call connected. “I need your help.”
* * *
Kit looked over the letter one more time, reading it from top to bottom. When she was satisfied, she picked up a pen and signed her name with a flourish at the end. She took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders. “Be strong,” she said quietly.
It had taken forty-eight hours after Ramona’s pep talk for Kit to make her decision. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t design her entire future around someone else’s plan, someone else’s ideas for what would make her happy. She’d discovered more than Hunter Beckett in Gopher Springs, she’d discovered herself. And Kit Cowie was a damn good vet—a damn good large animal vet. She thrived on the challenge, and she wanted to be someplace where that would be her daily life, not some minor possibility.
And there was something else she wanted—to fall in love. Kit wasn’t ready to spend all her time managing a veterinary practice by herself. She wanted time to meet people, have friends, live life. As much as she would miss Hunter, he’d shown her what it could feel like to have that kind of a partnership, not only in work but in love. She had to believe that was possible again, somewhere, with someone. And she’d never find it spending all her time at her dad’s clinic.
As she made her way toward the lobby, balloons and streamers dangled from the ceiling and pop tunes played on the sound system that normally only had Muzak. As she reached the break room, Kit saw her dad pulling bottles of champagne out of the refrigerator. As much as she knew her timing was terrible, she had to do it now. She’d already waited too long to make the decision. She couldn’t wait any longer.
“Dad?”
“Hey, Kit Kat!” Her dad turned a big sparkling grin on her. His balding head was shiny in the sunlight, but his kind blue eyes were the same she’d been looking into her entire life. She wavered for a moment, but then stood straighter and repeated her new mantra in her head.
“Looks like the party is going to be a great one.”
“I think so. Whatcha’ got there?” he asked as he shut the small refrigerator. “Something I need to sign?”
“No.” She held out the piece of paper. “It’s something you need to read.”
Always a patient man who was ready to give his patients and his staff whatever time they needed, her dad leaned back against the break room counter and began to read.
His brow furrowed deeper as he read on. His lips formed a thin, tense line, and Kit felt her heart begin to race. She hadn’t made her father angry in a very long time, and she wasn’t looking forward to it now.
“Kit?” he finally said, looking up at her in confusion. “What is this?”
“You know what it is, Dad,” she answered quietly as the party noises continued right outside the doorway.
“You’re seriously going to leave the practice?” he asked.
She nodded before moving to him and placing her hand on his forearm.
“I’m so sorry, Dad. I should have been honest about all of this sooner. I should have…I didn’t realize myself until I was going into my residency, and then it seemed too late. Like I’d made this promise years ago, and there was no way I could renege. You and Mom have been counting on me, and I want to make things work for you, but…” She gazed at him, pleading with her eyes that he would understand.
“I’m not sure what to say, Kit.”
Her heart sank.
“All these years, this was our plan—I thought it was our plan…”
“You knew I loved large animals, Dad.”
He nodded. “I guess I didn’t think it was a make-or-break thing to you, though.”
“And that’s partly my fault. I didn’t say it was. I didn’t tell you that while I love all animals, the smaller ones bore me if that’s all I get to do. My blood races when I get outside with those big guys. Their weird digestive systems and hoof ailments. I love that stuff. I love that they’re useful animals and that their health relates to someone’s livelihood. It makes me feel like I’m contributing to something more than just the animal’s health.”
Her father blinked at her. “When did you realize all that?” he asked.
She paused, thinking. And like a flash, she knew. “While I was standing at the back end of a dairy cow, trying to figure out why she didn’t like her new milking equipment.”
What she didn’t tell him was that it was the same moment she knew she’d fallen in love with Hunter Beckett. Because Hunter hadn’t scoffed at her suggestion, he hadn’t treated her like she was a stupid resident. He’d listened to her, encouraged her, and given her the opportunity to know more than he did, to make a real difference with an animal for the first time in her career.
For that, she would always love him, even if they couldn’t be together anymore.
“Kit,” her dad said softly. “I had no idea.”
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I didn’t either…but I should have, and I should have said something sooner.”
He smiled then, one of his slow, patient smiles. “Oh, sweetheart, it’s okay.”
Tears came to her eyes, and she fell into his open arms. He stroked her hair as she buried her face in the familiar scent of his scrubs, fresh from the laundry service. “That’s my girl,” he consoled. “It’s all going to be fine. I promise.”
“Thank you, Daddy,” she said, sniffing as she pulled away. “What will you do now?” she asked.
“Well, I think I’ll—”
“Doctors?” Ramona stood at the doorway, a funny look on her face.
“Yes, Ramona, are they asking for us out there?” Kit’s dad said.
“Asking for Kit, actually,” Ramona answered. “A young man is, I mean—asking for Kit.”
Kit’s heart began to race. She wasn’t expecting anyone, and it was a Friday after five p.m., too late for a drug rep or office supply salesman.
Kit’s dad looked amused. “Well, sounds like she’d better get out there, then,” he said. “Go on, Kit Kat. You never know when it might be your future waiting. Don’t want to miss it.”
18
Hunter nervously watched the staff and longtime clients of Kit’s dad’s clinic as they celebrated the older doctor’s retirement. Dr. Cowie had obviously built a loyal and successful practice. The bits and pieces of conversations Hunter was overhearing told him that the older vet was popular and the practice was respected.
In other words, Kit would be a fool to leave it behind.
The entire drive down from Gopher Springs, he’d been practicing what he’d say to her, and like an idiot, he’d imagined she’d be happy to see him, maybe even excited to come back home with him.
He’d never realized the competition was so tough.
But before he could lose his nerve entirely and walk back out the way he’d come in, there she was.
Her dark blonde hair was up in the messy bun she always wore to bed, and she had on the scrubs that were the uniform at her dad’s clinic—royal blue with a yellow Cowie Animal Clinic insignia. She wasn’t wearing a scrap of makeup, and she had a pencil, of all things, stuck behind her left ear, but she was without a doubt the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
She stopped in front of him, her eyes wide with surprise.
“Hi,” he said, like the idiot he was.
“Uh, hi. What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I was hoping to talk to you for a few minutes.”
“You came all this way to talk to me? You could have texted or something, couldn’t you?”
He laughed softly as he reached out and touched her cheek, a butterfly brush that made her cheeks turn
pink and her breath audible.
“This isn’t something I can say over text, or the phone, or an email. This is an in-person kind of thing.”
She nodded, then took him by the hand and led him through the crowd and into an exam room down the hall.
After she closed the door, she went to drop his hand, but he held on as he gazed down at her.
“Kit,” he said, his voice husky and soft. “Three weeks ago, when you walked out of my office for the last time, I thought things couldn’t get much worse. But I was so wrong.”
She blinked at him, but since she wasn’t yelling or slamming doors, he kept going.
“For seven years, ever since my parents died, I’ve been telling myself I didn’t have time for love. That I had to take care of all those animals and both my brothers.” He shook his head and gave her a wry smile. “I was an idiot.”
Kit laughed, even as tears began to well up in her eyes.
“When you left—” He stepped closer, close enough he could see the pupils in her eyes dilate. “I realized how empty everything was without you. I wasn’t taking care of other people, I was protecting myself. Making sure no one who could hurt me got close enough to do it. But you did. You snuck in, under every wall I had up, and you proved that the reward is worth the risk.”
He leaned his forehead against hers, his voice barely a whisper. “You were my reward. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but there you were. And since you left, nothing’s right. I miss you so much, hon.” He pulled back and looked her in her beautiful, teary eyes. “Please come back. Come back to my office, come back to my life.”
Hunter held his breath, waiting, his heart pounding, the familiar scent of antiseptic, and Kit, making the ache inside him grow even stronger.
“Well,” she said with a small sniffle. “It turns out that I just handed my dad a resignation letter.”
He began to smile, and so did she.
“I wasn’t sure where I was headed. I figured I’d need to start a job hunt—”
Wrangling His Sexy Assistant: Beckett Brothers Book Two Page 9
